


"fighting off a villain-given addiction"- Shiro (Voltron), Allura (Voltron), and Keith (Voltron)

by AnaliseGrey



Series: Analisegrey's Birthday Whump Bingo Challenge 2018 [14]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Drug Withdrawal, Emesis, Feels, Fevers, Gen, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Vomiting, Withdrawal, original alien people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-06 21:05:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14656230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnaliseGrey/pseuds/AnaliseGrey
Summary: for square #14, which completes my first two bingos! woo!vanquisherofsnails on tumblr asked: “Maybe Shiro and "Fighting off a villain given addiction?"





	"fighting off a villain-given addiction"- Shiro (Voltron), Allura (Voltron), and Keith (Voltron)

**Author's Note:**

> This piece is a companion/continuation [to chapter 4](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13244544/chapters/30951480) of "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine (it's not a problem)". You don't have to read that first, but you might want to :)
> 
> Also, this chapter got a bit long. Oops?

The most irritating part was that the Daell’i had thought they were helping.

Shiro had gone missing not long after they’d landed on the planet, and had been missing for three days before Allura found him. The Daell’i were mildly telepathic, and had been able to immediately sense something was off about Shiro; it wasn’t their fault, Allura supposed, that they didn’t have much experience with post-traumatic stress. It had been a cultural misunderstanding, though of incredible proportions. 

They’d been attempting to treat him, to ‘fix his broken connections’, the whole time they’d had him. They’d meant well, and it was that fact, coupled with every bit of diplomatic training Allura possessed, that allowed her to maintain control of her temper when she finally located Shiro, sprawled out on a bed in the medical wing of a treatment facility, high out of his mind. 

He didn’t look too worse for wear, but when she gently touched his shoulder, he arched up into it, a pleased rumble bubbling up out of his chest and a soft smile blooming on his face; while she had often wished he would relax, she’d have preferred a different set of circumstances. She sighed, and moved to slide her hands under his back and legs.

“Shiro, I’m going to pick you up, now; we need to get you back to the ship.” She paused a moment, concentrating as she shifted herself larger, and then hefted him up. She had been worried he might not do well being moved in his current state, but he took the transition well, rolling gently in to rest against her chest and stomach, and settling with a small smile as she began to move.

She was almost out of the room when he hummed, then slurred, “‘llura?”

Her hands tightened reflexively, and then relaxed.

“Yes, Shiro? How are you feeling?”

He looked like he was trying to answer, his mouth opening and closing a few times, but no sound came out.

“Shiro?”  
  
“I feel.... _ everything.. _ .” he breathed, his eyes slitting open, but unfocused.

She didn’t know what to say to that. He seemed alright, no signs of distress, but until they were back at the Castle and got him scanned, there was no way to be sure what exactly the Daell’i had done, whether this was chemical, telepathic, or some combination of both.

She was exiting the facility when she felt a gentle thump against her stomach. When she looked down, Shiro was gazing up at her, eyes still glazed, but his expression earnest.

“Yes, Shiro, what is it?”

“‘m fine, ‘llura, everything’s fine, don’ be upset.”

Allura snorted, a wave of fondness washing over her.

“You are most assuredly  _ not  _ fine. What you are is  _ very  _ intoxicated, which we shall deal with when we reach the Castle. Why don’t you close your eyes and rest? We will be there shortly.”

Shiro settled back into her arms, his eyes sliding closed. A small wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows, but in another moment it had smoothed, and she felt him go limp in her arms, his breath deepening. He’d fallen asleep.

She was most of the way back to the Castle before Keith came running towards her, having noticed her approach.

“Is he...?”

“He’s alright, Keith, just sleeping. We need to get him to the infirmary to be checked over, though. I want a better idea of what they did.”

Keith turned, his face drawing down in a scowl, looking like he wanted to go wreak unholy terror on the settlement.

“They meant well, Keith, leave them be. We have other things to focus on.”

Keith grumbled under his breath, but followed after her as she swept into the Castle, heading straight for the infirmary.

Coran was waiting by a scanner bed when they arrived at the medbay, and helped her transfer Shiro down onto it; Allura was concerned that Shiro didn’t stir at all.

“Alright then, let’s see what we’ve got.”

Coran ran the scanner, and all three of them waited in tense silence for the results, with Shiro sleeping quietly between them. Allura was struck, not for the first time, by how young he looked. Without the tension he always carried in his waking hours, the constant furrow between his brows smoothed, he looked far younger than he usually did. Allura’s heart ached for him, and the other paladins, pulled so far from home at such a young age.

The scanner beeped, and Coran checked the readout.

“Well, he doesn’t seem to be in any immediate danger. His vitals are strong, though some are lower than usual for him. That might be due to the sedating effect of whatever they did. From what I can tell, some of it was telepathic, and that should wear off shortly with little to no ill effect, but some of it  _ was  _ chemical in nature.” Coran looked over at where Shiro still slept. “They were probably giving him the drug since he was taken , and from the readings, and what we know of human biology, I think it likely that the process of coming off of it will be...unpleasant.”

Allura frowned. “What do you mean, exactly?”

From next to her, Keith muttered, “Withdrawal.”

“What?”

“On Earth, the group of symptoms that come from abruptly stopping a medication or drug is called withdrawal. It’s not fun.”

“But it won’t be dangerous, will it?”

Keith shrugged. “Hard to tell. Everyone reacts differently. But he might get pretty sick.”

“Well then.” Allura straightened a bit, smoothing down the front of her dress. “We’ll just have to help him through it.”

~~~~~***~~~~~  
  
The first few vargas passed quietly, with Shiro remaining asleep in the infirmary. Coran had gone to check on Castle functions, and had told Allura and Keith to page him if they needed him.

Two and a half vargas in, and Shiro started to toss and turn, fussing under the light blanket Keith had covered him with earlier. Allura could see sweat starting to gather at Shiro’s temples, and she checked the readout on the medical scanner they’d kept running. Shiro’s temperature was elevating, as was his heart rate.

Keith got up and went to a cabinet, pulling down a couple of metal bowls and some small hand towels. He filled one of the bowls with cool water from the sink and brought everything back over to where Shiro was lying. He set them down on the tray table next to the bed, and dipped one of the folded towels into the water, wringing it out before wiping at Shiro’s face with it, and then leaving it on Shiro’s forehead.

“What’s the other bowl for?”

Keith glanced over at Allura. “In case he needs to throw up.”

“Oh.”

It was a good thing Keith was there, Allura thought later, because she’d have been at a bit of a loss. Keith was holding the previously empty bowl for Shiro while she helped Shiro stay mostly upright as his stomach heaved. Shiro looked abjectly miserable, sweat-dampened hair hanging limply over his eyes, looking far too pale to be healthy. She tried rubbing his back, like she’d seen Keith do when Shiro had first bolted upright out of a dead sleep looking panicked. Shiro’s shoulders dropped slightly, then hunched back up again as he gagged over the bowl.

Another few moments went by without incident, and Keith murmured, “Done?”, and Shiro nodded his head tiredly. Keith handed him a water packet, letting Shiro rinse his mouth out before moving away to deal with the bowl while Allura helped Shiro sip some of the water, then lie down again.

“How are you feeling?”

Shiro wrinkled his nose. “Ugh.”

Allura snorted a laugh despite herself, and Shiro scowled up at her.

“I’m sorry, it’s not funny, but just...your face…”

Shiro closed his eyes, sighing, voice scratchy. “No, I get it. The poor black paladin, on his deathbed, the leader of Voltron brought low. I can see how that would be hilarious.”

Keith came back over with the newly cleaned bowl, setting it down. “Don’t be so dramatic, it’s not your deathbed. You’ll be fine.”

Shiro pouted, and Allura had to admit he did look rather awful. “I don’t  _ feel  _ like I’ll be fine.”

Allura reached up and brushed Shiro’s bangs up off his forehead so Keith could more easily wipe at his face with a cool cloth again. Shiro’s eyes slid closed.

“See? She’s nice. With the hair, and carrying…”

“What?” Keith was about to lay into Shiro, to ask who he thought was wiping his face with a towel when he realized Shiro had passed out in the middle of his sentence. “Typical.”

Allura looked away, barely bothering to hide her smile.

When she had control of her expression she turned back to watch Keith as he worked, switching out the cloths on Shiro’s forehead every few minutes as they warmed up.

“He will be alright, though, won’t he?”

Keith glanced up at her. “Yeah. He might not feel like it for a few days, but he’ll live.”

~~~~~***~~~~~

Another couple of vargas passed, and Allura sent Keith to take a shower, get something to eat, and take a brief nap. She knew he wanted to tend to Shiro the whole time, but if this was going to take a few days, breaks were going to be important. She finally convinced him to go by pointing out that once Shiro was feeling better, if he found out that Keith had run himself into the ground on his behalf, there would be no end to the guilt he’d feel. So Keith went, promising not to be gone too long, 2 or 3 vargas at most.

She had taken Keith’s spot near the top of the bed, and was switching out one of the compresses when Shiro made a pained noise in the back of his throat. Allura froze.

“Shiro?”

For a moment, she didn’t think he was awake, but then she caught the glint of his eyes; they were barely open, still mostly slitted closed. She put a careful hand on his cheek. “Shiro, can you hear me?”

Shiro shifted, another whine of discomfort working its way out of him, and Allura frowned. She finished changing out the compress, and checked the monitor again. She hissed in dismay when she realized his temperature had jumped another few points. The compresses weren’t going to be enough, soon.

“ _ Baachan _ ?” Shiro’s voice sounded small and lost.

“No, Shiro, it’s...I’m Allura. Do you know where you are?”

Shiro opened his eyes wider, but they were glazed, unfocused, and Allura wasn’t sure how well he was tracking.

“What...where’s  _ baachan _ ?” Shiro started pushing up from the bed, heedless of the blanket he was tangled in. “She should be here.”

Allura’s heart gave another painful twist as she reached out to catch Shiro’s arm, stopping him from getting up. “I’m sure she’ll be here soon. Why don’t we stay here to wait for her?” Shiro paused, looking confused.

“Wait?”

Allura nodded, gently but firmly urging him to lay back down, pulling the blanket back up to his chest. “Yes, why don’t we wait for her here.” She reached to the side table and grabbed a hydration packet. “Would you like something to drink while you wait?”

Shiro blinked at the packet, like he wasn’t sure what it was, and it occurred to her that if he was delirious, he might not remember. Allura stuck the straw into the packet, and held it out to him. He took it, and warily sipped at it, seeming surprised when he found water inside. He made quick work of the packet, and by the time he was handing it back to her, it looked like he was having trouble keeping his eyes open.

“Why don’t you try to rest a bit more, Shiro?”

“‘kashi…”

“What was that?”

Shiro’s eyes were already fully closed, and he was nuzzling his face into the pillow. “’s Takashi. Lemme know when she gets here?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks.” And with that, Shiro passed out again. When she checked the monitor display, it seemed that his temperature hadn’t risen further, even if it wasn’t dropping yet. She got more cool water, made a new compress, and sat to wait.

Half a varga later Keith returned, and she was so relieved she couldn’t find it in her to scold him for coming back so quickly.

“How’s he doing?”

“He woke up briefly a short while ago, but he was very confused. I got him to drink some water and then he fell asleep again. His temperature has dropped somewhat, so I’m hopeful he might be on the mend.”

Keith nodded, but came over next to her to check the monitor readout for himself.

“He’s down to 102. He’ll still feel bad, but that’s a lot better than it was.”

Allura hummed in agreement. “He...when he woke up he said a few things, and I was wondering if maybe you knew what they were?”

Keith turned to her, eyebrow up in question.

“Who is ‘baachan’?”

A sad look flickered briefly across Keith’s face. “I know the translators do a lot for us, but you know that some of us from Earth can speak different languages, right?”

“Yes. Lance has taught me some words in Spanish.”

“Well, Shiro is from a country called Japan, and in Japanese, ‘baachan’ means grandmother. When his parents died, Shiro was raised by his mother’s parents, though it was mostly his grandmother who took care of him.”

“Oh.” Allura looked at Shiro, who was sleeping more peacefully since his temperature had started to drop, and tried to imagine him younger, smaller, without the scar across his nose, without the prosthetic. Tried to picture him without the white shock of hair, smiling and young and carefree. “I see.”

They stood there another few dobashes before Allura asked, “What’s a ‘takashi’?”

Keith snorted out a laugh. “Takashi? That’s Shiro’s name.”

Allura frowned. “But I thought his name was Shiro.”

“I mean, it kind of is? His full name is ‘Takashi Shirogane’. Shiro is a nickname, a shortened version of his family name, Shirogane.”

Allura was about to ask whether any of the rest of them were using nicknames when Shiro shifted, groaning as he opened his eyes.

“Shiro!” Keith immediately went to his side. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got run over by a Galra cruiser. What happened?”

“The Daell’i tried to help you. How much do you remember?”

“I remember landing here, I remember...something happening? It gets kind of fuzzy for a while after that.” Shiro took a moment, thinking. “Princess, did you carry me somewhere?”

Allura nodded. “Yes, I carried you out of the medical facility you were being held in. They thought you had ‘loose connections’, and were trying to remedy the problem. I fear your human biology didn’t react to treatment the way they thought it would.”

“Yeah, you were high as a kite.”

Shiro winced. “Ugh. I didn’t do anything awful, did I?”

Allura smiled reassuringly. “No. You were quite ill for a bit, but it seems you’re on the mend now. Your temperature is dropping steadily. Do you think you’d like some water?”

“God, yes.” Shiro reached eagerly for the water packet Allura handed him and sucked it dry in moments. “Much better.”

“Keith, why don’t you stay here with him for a bit. I’m going to go freshen up and see if I can find Hunk. I’m sure he can prepare something that will be alright for you to eat, Shiro.”

Shiro nodded, still looking worse for wear, and as she left the medbay, she could hear Keith dragging a chair closer to the bed.

She’d take a shower, get a change of clothes, and then find Hunk. It had been a long few days, but everything was settling down, at least for the moment. Hopefully it would stay that way a bit longer.


End file.
